Concert Review: There’s no denying Willie Nile

ALBANY — Despite the fact that singer-songwriter Willie Nile has had more than his share of hard times throughout his rollercoaster musical career, it was hard to imagine a more optimistic performer as he stepped into the spotlight at the WAMC Performing Arts Studio on Saturday night.

Dressed all in black from his boots to his gravity-defying hair, the wiry Nile delivered a dynamic — perhaps even triumphant — solo show with a vast grab-bag of hopeful pop songs that reached back to his 1980 debut album. He churned through nearly two dozen tunes on Saturday, switching from guitar to grand piano as the mood struck him. And the devoted fans in the crowd — who had waited more than 15 years since his last Capital Region appearance — couldn’t seem to get enough. (Ironically, his last area performance was right across the street at the now defunct Pauly’s Hotel.)

Nile’s career has been on a major upswing in the past couple of years, and that trend seems likely to continue with the release of his upcoming album, “House of a Thousand Guitars,” due in April. He offered a sneak preview of the album, opening his show with the hard-strumming “Run” and serving up the rocking title track in which he pays homage to his influences — Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams and others.

He nodded to George Harrison with “Every Time the World Turns Around,” and the reggae-flavored “When One Stands” was a joyous, hope-filled anthem that resonated with echoes of Bob Marley.

And he offered an unlikely pair of cover songs, as well — the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Buddy Holly’s “I’m Gonna Love You, Too.”

But Nile’s own songwriting skills shone brightest throughout the evening. It was his talent at melding catchy pop-hooks to literate lyrics that originally got him tagged as “the next Dylan” back in the early ‘80s, and some of that Dylan influence is still obvious, especially on the powerful, autobiographical “Back Home.” But during the encore of “Streets of New York” — the title track of his latest studio album and his best performance on Saturday — Nile’s songwriting sensibilities aligned more closely with those of Bruce Springsteen, as he sat at the piano to detail a gritty slice of urban life as seen through the eyes of a romantic poet.

Nile’s a storyteller at heart, and between songs he regaled the crowd with numerous tales from his long career — singing with Ringo Starr onstage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center; recording in the studio with Richard Thompson; chatting with Bono about singing one of Nile’s songs in a Martin Scorsese film.

A couple of the hardest rocking numbers fell a bit flat without the power of a backing band, but for the most part Nile’s passion and enthusiasm easily carried the day, and the crowd eagerly helped fill out the sound as they sang and clapped along.

He capped off the night with a reprise of the Buddy Holly tune, singing, “You’re gonna say you love me/And I’m gonna love you, too.” After all of these years, it was difficult to say who was more thrilled that Nile was back onstage Saturday night — the ardent fans or the singer-songwriter himself.